The real race now is for the 9th and 10th slots. Three candidates on the bubble hovering around 3 percent are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

The trio made their cases Sunday.

“I’m confident I’ll be there on Thursday night,” Christie said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He downplayed Trump’s popularity​, saying, “Anybody can do well for a month.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich acknowledged he may not make the debate his home state is hosting. “There’s nothing wrong with a person being embarrassed who has been in the spotlight for a long time,” Kasich said on Fox News Sunday. “I mean, I’d rather not be embarrassed.”

Kasich’s top political strategist, John Weaver, recently tweeted about the challenge of preparing to debate Trump: “Imagine a NASCAR driver mentally preparing for a race knowing one of the drivers will be drunk.”

Wanting to avoid criticizing Trump, Kasich condemned his adviser Sunday.” He won’t be sending anymore tweets like that… I mean, that’s not the way we operate.”

And Rick Perry, best known for his “oops” debate gaffe four years ago, wants to be on the debate stage to redeem himself.

“I think people are going to see a very focused, disciplined candidate,” Perry said on Fox News Sunday.

Perry is Trump’s most vocal critic and recently challenged him to a pull-up competition. He wants to confront the frontrunner for criticism of Sen. John McCain’s heroism and Perry’s job of securing the Texas border.

“I’m going to stand up and pushback and I’m going to pushback hard,” Perry said.